


1am dates & shaved ice

by kuntastic



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, just your daily renmin dosage!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:48:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuntastic/pseuds/kuntastic
Summary: jaemin convinces renjun to accompany him to grab some shaved ice after late night practice.





	1am dates & shaved ice

 

Jaemin watched him attentively. 

 

One spoonful, then another spoonful. He always ate so carefully. Did he have lip balm on? He must have - his lips looked smooth today. Jaemin could tell.

 

In fact, he was so fixated on watching his every move that he hardly noticed the glare and the light thudding sound the spoon made when it was dropped onto the tray.

 

“Yah, are you not eating any?” Renjun said, exasperated. “You’re the one who wanted to get bingsu after practice!” 

 

Jaemin blinked, as if finally coming to, gaze slowly moving up to meet the other’s eyes. “Huh?” 

 

“You wanted bingsu, so we came and got some! What are you even looking at? Is there something on my face?” Renjun’s brows furrowed as he picked up his phone, flipping it to the self-camera and examining his visage. The light pink that dusted across his cheeks didn’t go unnoticed. There was hardly anything Renjun did that ever went unnoticed, though.

 

Grinning, Jaemin picked up his own spoon and dug it into the milky flakes of the shaved ice, bringing them to his mouth. “I did want bingsu. And there isn’t anything on your face, either.” He chuckled, reaching for the extra condensed milk and pouring it over the dessert, deciding it wasn't sweet enough. “You’re just so cute, I can’t stop staring at you!” 

 

He made a face, setting his phone down and taking another bite. 

 

“What, it’s true!” Jaemin smiled and took a bite as well, mimicking Renjun’s timing. “You’re the prettiest boy I know!”

 

“Please, you say that to everyone.”

 

First, he laughed it off quietly. Then, something struck Jaemin. Renjun always shot him down without hesitation and flicked his hearts aside; he always rejected his incessant flirting and excessive compliments, but maybe it was all for a good reason that Jaemin was suddenly surprised he never considered. He widened his eyes, his spoon pausing mid-way to the bingsu as he stared at Renjun, as if in realization. “... Injun-ah, are you _jealous_?”

 

Of course, Hwang Renjun scoffed immediately, almost choking on his food. “ _No_! What the hell? Why would I be!” 

 

But he persisted. Jaemin placed his elbows on the table, leaning in closer with a grin that now spread across his face. “Really? Then what do you mean, I say it to everyone?”

 

“You just say it to everyone, who _haven’t_  you flirted with by now?”

 

“So you know I’m trying to flirt with you.”

 

“Yeah, and it’s _annoying_!”

 

“Because you don’t like how I do it to other people, too.”

 

“Yes - _no_ , what!? That’s not what I - agh!” 

 

Renjun put both his hands on his head, fixed his hair, and brought his eyes down to the food before continuing to eat. His ears were red. “I just meant you probably don’t mean anything you ever say. You shouldn’t just throw those kinds of words around like that, they're connotative than you probably think.”

 

That wasn’t quite what he’d expected to hear, but he smiled nonetheless. So that’s what it was. 

 

Jaemin had a lot of love to give, and he loved all his fellow members dearly - Jisungie and Chenle were practically the children he raised with his own two hands, Jeno was his bestest friend since forever, Hyuck understood and clicked with him on a spiritual level, and Mark was the beloved cute maknae-hyung who guided them through thick and thin. 

 

But Renjun was different. Completely different. That wasn’t to say he didn’t consider him the same kind of family with the same kind of closeness as the others, but Jaemin had always thought of him as something beyond just a ‘good friend’, and didn’t dare much to really go beyond what they already had. Jaemin wasn’t an idiot, despite what anyone else would say. He knew to play things safe. So he simply treated everyone the same. That didn’t mean his words were any less genuine, but now that Renjun said otherwise, it had Jaemin thinking.

 

“What kinds of words?” He asked, now quieter as he rested his chin in his palm, gaze resting still on Renjun, who seemed to be avidly avoiding it. “Never have I ever not meant it when I said you were pretty, if that’s what you’re wondering.” 

 

The other remained silent, absentmindedly digging a hole straight through the center of the dessert. 

 

“Don’t get me wrong,” Jaemin continued, preparing a spoonful of the food. “Everyone has a place in my heart, we practically grew up together!” He chuckled softly, remembering to add a small bit of mochi to the bite. “But I must not have been doing a very good job in making it obvious that you’re a little different from the others.” He held up the spoon before Renjun now, one hand under it to make sure nothing spilled out. “Say aah!” 

 

Renjun blinked as he looked up, cheeks flushed, brows still furrowed in either confusion or frustration - Jaemin couldn’t tell. He narrowed his eyes. “What are you trying to say?”

 

He brought the spoon to his own mouth. It didn’t seem like Renjun would take it, not yet. “That I like you.” 

 

“...”

 

The sudden confession still had some sort of effect! The other’s cheeks reddened by the second, and it could have just been the lighting, but Jaemin pressed on.

 

“It’s true! I like you. You’re a cute guy. You’re smart, attractive, hardworking, and have perfect form when keeping someone in a choke hold.” He grinned, leaning in closer again. “Totally my type, in the I'd-want-to-date-you kind of way. Not to mention how adorably tiny you are.”

 

“Shut _up_ ,” he groaned, crossing his arms, though a small smile quirked at the corners of his lips. “... I’m... not.” 

 

“You’re one-seventy centimeters short, Injun-ah...”

 

“Not _that_  part! I meant everything else! I thought — ...”

 

Tilting his head, he waited for the other to continue. Jaemin was patient, he could wait.  Watching the color intensify on Renjun’s face the best thing in the world, anyway. 

 

“I thought you liked someone else." 

 

Jaemin raised his eyebrows - this was interesting. He grinned. "What? Who?"

 

Renjun shifted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I don't know. Jeno? Jisung?" 

 

"My best friend? My oversized  _baby_?" Laughter rumbled up from his chest as he stood from his seat, moving to sit next to Renjun in the booth. "You're kidding. It's almost like you don't notice me staring at your lips half the time."

 

That earned Jaemin a smack on the arm. "How's that supposed to mean anything when you've kissed Jeno on the cheek before? _On camera_?" 

 

It was hardly fair that Renjun was being so adorable now of all times, in public. Sure, the cafe was empty and the numbers that told the time on Jaemin's phone clearly reflected digits that most people's don't when they're out and about, but Jaemin knew how to be sensible, most of the time! 

 

He pursed his lips and kept his hands at his sides. Again, sensible! "You have a point there."

 

"I know." Renjun wrinkled his nose, scooping the last bite of the bingsu into his spoon and bringing it to Jaemin's lips. "Anyway! Finish this, I'm full because you hardly ate anything." 

 

Jaemin laughed and took the bite, fluttering his lashes as he tilted his head. "Injunnie, spoon-feeding me...? I must be _dreaming_..."

 

The smaller boy had parted his lips to say something, but stopped himself. The pretty blush didn't leave his cheeks, and Jaemin held himself back for the hundred and eighth time that night from pinching them. 

 

Their eyes met.

 

Things seemed to slow down around them... But that wasn't to say they hadn't the moment Renjun had first shown the slightest sign of what Jaemin wanted to call jealousy. There was something that hung in the air between them, and there was no way he wasn't going to just go for it.

 

Naturally, Jaemin leaned in closer, shifting his weight to the palm that pressed into the seat cushions, torso turned to face Renjun as he flickered his gaze down to the other's lips for a split second. 

 

It felt like the right timing. Was it too soon? Did this make Renjun uncomfortable? They'd been this close before, a few times, but that was only teasing - and solely on Jaemin's part, too. 

 

He decided to test the other's reaction. 

 

Embarrassed annoyance crossed the other's face. Then something shy and untapped. Then he frowned and huffed, cheeks flushing yet again before he closed the gap between them, pecking Jaemin on the lips and leaving him utterly stunned as he turned back to the bingsu, stuffed his face with it. 

 

Jaemin didn't respond for a while, shocked. 

 

"Injun-ah... You..." His features brightened and he grinned wide. He nearly teared up, but he instead wrapped an arm around Renjun's waist and tugged him closer for a hug. 

 

The other brought his hands up in an attempt to push him away, cheeks flushed red as he kept his eyes anywhere but on Jaemin. 

 

"S-stop! I don't know! I'm leaving...!"

 

He stood, reaching for his jacket, putting it on quickly as he swiftly began making a beeline towards the door. Jaemin only smiled again, biting his lip as he mumbled to himself, "We're still in public, we're still in public..." 

 

It took a little bit to catch up to Renjun after putting the tray with their food away. The boy had shorter legs than him; he couldn't have run too far. 

 

"Renjun!" He called, putting a hand on the other's shoulder as he approached, other hand on his chest to find his breath again. His lips were still stretched into a wide smile as he looked at Renjun, cheeks flushed from both the cold and the pounding in his chest. 

 

"... What?" Renjun answered quietly, arms crossed as he turned around to face Jaemin. His face was reddened as well, and his eyes struggled to meet Jaemin's. Adorable... 

 

Jaemin didn't do much other than glance quickly, making sure the streets were as empty as they felt, and leaned in, pressing a chaste kiss to the other's lips before pulling away, eyes settling fondly on the shorter boy before him. 

 

"Are you up for a second date tomorrow?"

 

He rolled his eyes and punched Jaemin in the arm, mumbling a quick "whatever". Jaemin took it as a chance to loop his arm in Renjun's and smile to himself, already planning where they'd go for their second date. 

 

He also planned on making sure to brag to Jeno about this later; that he finally got  _the_ Huang Renjun to say  _yes_ to a date. 

 

Ah, and he also noted to mark his calendar - November eighteenth, the day he became luckiest guy alive.

 

His to-do list increased bit by bit all the way back home.


End file.
